Category Archive

advice

Where can I find indestructable dog toys?

I have two dogs and they seem capable of tearing through any and every dog toy made by man. The big one has a very strong jaw that can power through the toughest of toys and the little one has small needle-like teeth that penetrate through everything. Help me, Homies!

Roofing materials that are recycled, better looking, and easier on your budget

Our home needs a new roof. It’s been asphalt shingling, and it’s fine, but if I can manage to keep it in budget I’d much rather use a greener material. Or even just a cheaper material. Or something that looks nice! Really, I guess I want to jazz my roof UP!

Do or don’t: Bright front doors and painter’s remorse

I want to paint our front door a BIG bright color, but my partner’s got reservations. Some help from the community would really help us make a decision about this.

Do you wish you had kept your car — or does car-less life ROCK?

People who have owned a car, but decided to get rid of it: what was the transition like? What do you do if you have an emergency or need to run to the store in the middle of the night? How do you haul large stuff around? And most importantly: do you regret the decision… or do you love it?

How can I minimize weirdness when hosting clients in my home office?

I run a business from my home, and I often have to meet with clients and collaborators. I’ve been meeting in coffee shops, but I want to make a change: some meetings require lots of materials or even room to spread out drawings and papers, and I hate lugging this stuff around and then splaying out my work in a cafe. However, I want to make sure I’m projecting a professional persona even when I greet a client at my front door and lead them through the living room to my office. My house is fine — it’s neat, though doesn’t have a ton of furniture. It just feels strange to invite people to see where I live AND work.

Am I silly to worry about this? Is there anything you can suggest to allay my twinge of weirdness about mixing business and personal worlds?

Moral dilemma of a first worlder: Let’s talk about the ethics of the goods we buy

What with recent events in the news about Foxconn, the Chinese company that produces gadgets for Apple, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and others, I’ve started to sit down and wonder if I really want to be purchasing products that were made by people living and working in poor conditions. But I need tech. What do I do?

Oh shit, we bought a house! What now?

Oh shit, we bought a house! What now?

I called my husband and told him, “Oh shit, we bought a house.” He said, “Okay, we need to sit down tonight and make a list…” A list of what? He owned a house well before I met him so he’s gone through this before; but we’ve been together seven years now, which means that house was long long ago and what to prepare for was a distant memory.

What I need is a checklist — and I don’t mean things like get an inspection and such because that’s been done. We’ve got a house that we need to prepare to move in to, so what do we need to do? I mean, I get the change of address to the USPS and the utilities, pack, get a rental truck for the small stuff and price movers for the furniture but what else is there?

Do eco-friendlier mattress choices exist?

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy a new mattress in a couple of months and we wondered if there were any environmentally-friendly options.

I suppose a follow-up question is if there is anything we should know about disposing the old one! Since your website has inspired us to make more conscious decisions about our lifestyles I was hoping you would be able to offer some input.